Mixed media cat painting using Gelli printed background

This painting is an example of recovering from a major disaster. Everything was going along wonderfully and I was using my black paint pen to add some details when it exploded - see the viewers left eye - and when I was sopping it up I touched the paper towel on the shoulder area. Ugh.

As I had originally intended, this is a little demo on how I achieved the final painting even through adversity.

This art journal is nothing fancy, a plain lined paper notebook, it's about 5*8, with a tough vinyl cover, that I picked up from the dollar store. Some of the pages I have gessoed, some have been decoupaged, and some papers are Gelli print one-offs - like this one. The only reason I like to use this one is that I like the size of it.

I didn't have any idea when I started on what I was going to do with this sheet. I try and use the most patterned part of the paper as the focal point. So I took my blue watercolor pencil and sketched out a basic cat shape. Even when I am just working in a sketchbook I am still thinking about some basic design principals, but I am not too concerned with too many details, you will be surprised on how many of those are created just because of the background pattern.

Now start to carve out your image by painting the negative shape. I used a blue-grey wash to ghost the image so that some of the background still shows through. Use a light touch at first. It is a lot easier to cover mistakes in a thin wash than a thick opaque line. When that is dry, I finger painted the rest of the background letting the colors mix on the paper.

Add your details. For this I used a black oil pastel, this works well for blending and adding that furry fuzz illusion to your cat. Paint the eyes, don't forget those highlights. There is no way you can ever recreate this painting as no two Gelli papers are the same but I hope you are inspired to try out this idea. Remember its only paint.

5* 8 inch

mixed media (Gelli print on paper, acrylics, oil pastel, oil marking pencil, ink, watercolor pencil)

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Eclectic Studio - Tammy Morrison-Koenig

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